


Secrets

by Zevla (Acailura)



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Dark, Deep Dark Secrets, Gen, I'm Sorry, Pat learns things he doesn't want to know, Regret, Thomas's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acailura/pseuds/Zevla
Summary: “Pat, can you keep a secret?”Pat scoffed at the question, but his tone was its usual compassionate one. “Yes. Why, what is it?”“Better than Kitty, or the Captain, or Julian?” she asked.“I can keep a secret,” he repeated.“Better than Fanny?”“What is it?” he asked, his voice growing even more concerned.“I killed him.”There’s a lot that the ghosts can’t seem to understand about Rose. Her mysterious appearance, many decades after her apparent death, raise a lot of questions. Her intense liking of Thomas above all others is equally confusing. When Pat makes an attempt at understanding more about his new friend to keep the others happy, things do not go as expected.Or, introducing my Ghosts OC in the worst way possible.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> _Hello! First fic, be gentle with me xD_   
>  _I hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment and kudos because I'm as needy as Thomas and I thrive on positive feedback xD_

There were a lot of things about Rose that the other ghosts just could not figure out. She was a true enigma, a mystery so profound it became something of excitement within the Button house. For so long she had been down in the basement, hiding amongst the plague victims of all company. Not once, not even for a simple greeting, did she pop up and formally introduce herself to them. None of them even knew that she existed. So, when she finally ventured up the stairs and appeared for the first time since her death, she was a shock. 

What was even more shocking was her attitude towards them all. Rose was pleasant for the most part, and she got on well with everyone initially. Her keen interest, however, fell to Thomas, and soon, her disposition changed. As she learned the dynamics of the little ghost family, she became increasingly supportive and, at times, downright overprotective of the dandy. On many an occasion, she and the Captain would fall out after a choice remark aimed at Thomas. 

This behavior, of course, quickly made her even more intriguing. Nobody liked Thomas. They didn’t hate him, and sure, they cared about him, but nobody would venture so far as to say they actually  _ liked _ Thomas. So why did this strange girl who had previously spent her undeath in a basement of diseased spectres have such an interest in him? It was one unsolved puzzle of sheer wonder, and one which sparked up a lot of conversation. One conversation, in particular, began with her enthusiastic offering to go off and help Thomas with his poetry to calm him after one of his passionate fits. This was a change for Thomas, who was used to his writing being blown off, and he was quick to accept it, leading her off to the library for some quiet thinking. 

The moment they were both out of the room, the questions began. 

“Think she’s got a thing for Thomas?” 

“Who in their right minds would agree to such torture?” 

“She’s so sweet, isn’t she, helping him like that! What do you think they’ll work on?” 

“Rose strange. Why Thomas?” 

“Should someone warn her what she’s getting herself into?”

“Don’t you think she’s figured out what he’s like by now? I mean, how long did it take us?” 

“Maybe she works withs the devil.” 

“Guys,” Pat interrupted. “Enough. I think it’s great Rose and Thomas have taken such a liking to one another, don’t you? What’s it matter why she has?” 

“Because if she likes him, she’s going to be incredibly disappointed.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Kitty beamed. “Why can’t we all be friends like that? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” 

“Maybe you should asks her,” suggested Mary. 

“Ask her what?” 

“Why she’s so close to Thomas.” 

Pat shook his head. “I don’t think we should pry--” 

He was cut off by a chorus of urgings. 

“Come on, what have we got to lose by prying? We’re already dead.” 

“I thinks if she’s gonna stays with us, we has a right to know why she’s the way she is.” 

“Well, I won’t tolerate her abnormal, unbecoming behavior, and especially not without an explanation. Not in my house.” 

“Guys!” Pat shouted. Lowering his voice, he continued, “Okay, okay. I’ll ask her, but only if all of you drop it and leave her alone about it.”

While the other ghosts were content with this, Pat wandered off into the kitchen to think. Here he remained for most of the day, until Rose finally re-emerged from the library, having found Thomas content with his progress. She gave him a polite greeting and was continuing on her way when he stopped her. “Hey, uh, Rose?” 

“Yes?” she turned. 

Glancing her over revealed very little about her, and if anything only worsened the mysteries about her. Her outfit was similar in age and style to Thomas’s, but she didn’t wear a dress or anything at all expected of a young lady. Instead, her outfit resembled that of a man’s more than anything. She had a long coat on over a vest and undershirt, and wore trousers instead of a skirt. 

Pat forced himself to ask the question, polite as ever. “We were all just wondering, you know, why Thomas?” 

“Why Thomas?” she repeated. 

“Yeah, why Thomas? You know, why did you take such a liking to him?” 

He was expecting an easy and understandable answer. Maybe they were both from the Regency era. Maybe they had known each other. He was absolutely  _ not _ expecting the answer he got. 

“Pat, can you keep a secret?” 

Pat scoffed at the question, but his tone was its usual compassionate one. “Yes. Why, what is it?” 

“Better than Kitty, or the Captain, or Julian?” she asked. 

“I can keep a secret,” he repeated. 

“Better than Fanny?” 

“What is it?” he asked, his voice growing even more concerned. 

“I killed him.” 

“You… Pardon-- you what?” 

Rose sucked in a deep breath, her gaze crashing to the floor. “I shot him. I didn’t mean to. Well, I mean, I did, but I didn’t--” 

“You shot Thomas?” 

She was quivering, her voice wavering on the threat of emotional onslaught. “I was on the run, I didn’t know what else to do. He saw me, he tried to stop me, and they were coming so I had to--” 

“Who? What?” Pat was trying his hardest to understand the story in his usual kind way, but he was talking to a murderer. A murderer responsible for the death of one of his fellow ghosts, no less. 

“I only came here at all for the king. If I had stayed in America, things would have ended a lot differently. They found me out quickly, and then there were a bunch of guards or soldiers of some sort after me, and I didn’t know what to do so I just kept running. Didn’t know where I was or where I was going, but I stole a horse and kept on going. They didn’t let up though. I was wanted. So I somehow happened upon here, and they were hot on my trail then, a few paces behind me. They’d caught up to me somehow. And I was just tryna get away, you know? I was trying to escape and there was Thomas, outside, and he was watching me and he tried to stop me and I just-- I wasn’t thinking, I just shot him.” 

Pat’s mind-- or what existed as his consciousness now-- buzzed. At least her story answered some of the questions surrounding her existence. Her clothes were a costume, her death was the consequence of an assassination attempt, and her strange accent was the result of being foreign. 

Rose continued. “I’d never shot someone before, and when he fell, I panicked. I tried to help him but they were coming and I didn’t know how, so I just kept running. They caught me ahead, by the house.” She paused from her story and carefully unbuttoned her vest, revealing a small stain of deep crimson spread across a portion of her undershirt. “I was gone ‘fore I hit the ground.” 

“So, you shot Thomas.” Pat repeated. 

She nodded. “And I felt so bad. They brought him inside, laid him up on a bed. He was sick for three days ‘fore he died, and I watched the entire time. I just sat there next to him. It was so bad, I just wanted to take it all back and I couldn’t. I couldn’t fix things. I didn’t--” she trailed off, lost in her emotions. Finally, she sighed, forcing herself to regain some level of composure, and said, “It wasn’t fair, what I did to him. But I have all eternity to make it up to him.” 

Pat was at a total loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. How did one respond to such an admission? 

Luckily, she didn’t need them. “Don’t. I know. I killed him. It’s my fault. I spent nearly two centuries trying to come to terms with that. This is how I did that, came to terms-- We’re both stuck here, I might as well do my best to make things a little better for him.”

“Does he know?” Pat finally managed. 

A horrified look fell over her features. “God, no! And you can’t tell him! Or anyone! If he ever found out…” she shook her head and shuddered. “Imagine if he ever found out.” 

Rose had a very good point. Thomas wasn’t exactly very great at handling major news. The knowledge that he lived with his killer probably wouldn’t go over too well for him, which in turn would ruin eternity for the rest of them. 

It went against his better judgement, but Pat agreed not to tell anyone. If he had still been in his body, every bone in it would be screaming against his decision. Still, he told himself he was doing what was best, and he kept her secret. When the others questioned him about it later, he got uncharacteristically defensive and quiet-- this behavior being their cue to drop it, which they all did eventually. Julian took the longest to let it drop, but he eventually caved. Things went back to their new normal, and the mystery around Rose remained for everyone. Everyone, that is, except Pat, who wished he didn’t know the skeletons in her closet. 

**Author's Note:**

> _So, it’s worth mentioning that I’m actually an American who by sheer luck stumbled upon this show one day and fell in love. I’m actually incredibly heartbroken that it doesn’t exist IN America. I think it would be a huge hit if they did air it here too._   
>  _This was a silly idea that just would not leave me alone, so I decided after reading some other fics about his death to go ahead and push it out there. I really liked the idea of an American ghost being a part of the little family (not just because I am American, but also because the general time period in which I set her in was really funny to me. There was A LOT of tension between the two countries then especially, for very obvious reasons) and I already had an OC kind of like Rose for a work I was doing, so I just based her on that and dropped her in. I’m not the best writer, admittedly, but I gave it my best. Hope everyone enjoys!_


End file.
